These 4 Carolina Panthers have a chance to shine with Christian McCaffrey out injured
This Carolina Panthers offense is supposed to be fun to watch.
If not for the four turnovers in last week’s loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, there would have been more time for talk about how wide receiver Robby Anderson has had a strong start to the season — fourth in the NFL with 223 receiving yards — and emerged as the team’s early No. 1 receiver and how quarterback Teddy Bridgewater can certainly throw a deep pass. He’s averaging 8.4 yards per pass attempt, his highest average in a season to date and seventh-most in the league.
But even with those numbers the Panthers offense hasn’t shined yet and that’s largely due to turnovers and mixed offensive line play. This entire team is growing over the course of the season — a brand new offense takes time, something that Carolina hasn’t had much of — but that will be stunted with All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey expected to miss at minimum of three games with a high ankle sprain.
Running back Mike Davis is the player who will literally take McCaffrey’s spot, but this offense was supposed to be able highlight the weapons that it has across the board. There are other players on the Panthers’ offense who have opportunities to take advantage of the running back’s absence and have the potential to keep this offense exciting. Here’s who we’ll be keeping an eye on.
WR Curtis Samuel
2020 stats: 7 receptions, 51 yards; 5 rush, 31 yards
With Samuel in the final year of his contract and after all of the talk about him over the past four years, this is the wide receiver’s time, but his role in the Panthers’ offense has never been able to come together.
Offensive coordinator Joe Brady said this week that he needs to do a better job of getting Samuel involved in the offense as a receiver. He played as a running back during his college career at Ohio State, in addition to transitioning to receiver, and there’s no doubt that the Panthers will get more creative with their usage of him, especially with McCaffrey out.
Samuel isn’t going to be the team’s No. 1 or No. 2 receiver in the immediate future. Anderson and DJ Moore hold those spots, as evidenced by the first two games. But this should still be a time when Samuel is able to show what he can do with the ball in his hands. He was already a player to watch this season, and he’s not going to be one of the team’s traditional running backs. But his role going forward — if one can be defined — will be worth taking note of and could play a role in the offense truly getting going.
RB Reggie Bonnafon
The Panthers brought Bonnafon up from the practice squad to be Davis’ backup in Los Angeles. Bonnafon was the team’s backup running back last year, but lost his spot to Davis in training camp. Trenton Cannon is also part of the running back room, but he is more of a special teams contributor.
Is Bonnafon going to get as many opportunities as Davis? No, but the running back likely would not have been elevated from the practice squad if not for McCaffrey’s injury, and the Panthers will not be relying just on Davis. Bonnafon should get chances.
The back is remembered for his 59-yard touchdown run last year after Bonnafon spent his first year in the NFL in 2018 on the Panthers’ practice squad. While much of the focus will be on Davis, Bonnafon will put the Panthers in an interesting position roster-wise with the new rules this year. The team can only bring him up from the practice squad twice just prior to a game before he has to be signed to the active roster. There will be more roster moves to come one way or another.
One other name? Fullback Alex Armah. The Panthers clearly aren’t shy about using him as a runner, as anyone who watched the game against the Raiders witnessed. He will continue to see the field with McCaffrey out as well.
TE Chris Manhertz and Ian Thomas
2020 combined stats: 4 receptions, 28 yards
This is more about losing McCaffrey as a receiver, in addition to the fact the Panthers have not gotten the tight ends involved in the offense through the first two games. The pair have combined for four receptions for 28 yards, and the Panthers are tied with the Patriots for the fewest tight end targets this season (four).
All training camp we heard about Manhertz turning into more of a receiving tight end, in addition to his strong blocking skills, but that hasn’t come to fruition just yet. This offense is going to look slightly different without McCaffrey as the unit continues to find its identity. It just is. And the Panthers carving out more of role for the tight ends as receivers is something to keep an eye over the next few weeks.
This story was originally published September 27, 2020 at 1:00 AM.
